The Stage

RSAMD to expand into dance with £6m new site

Published Tuesday 2 February 2010 at 14:40 by Natalie Woolman

Scotland’s leading drama school is creating a new £6 million campus which will focus on dance training and open later this year.

The new facility at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama will also house the school’s production and technical department and may lead the institution to change its name.

RSAMD principal John Wallace said that dance had been a priority for the academy since he came into post in 2002, because he felt any conservatoire “worth its salt” should offer a range of disciplines.

He added that he could see the school renaming itself as a result of including dance and said that changing the title to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music, Dance and Drama would probably have to happen “sooner rather than later”.

The new buildings, which are former industrial units, are being redesigned by architect Malcolm Fraser, who also worked on the Tramway building for Scottish Ballet and Dance City in Newcastle. They have been financed by academy funds and a donation from a private benefactor.

Wallace said that the academy scaled up their plans for the dance and production space as a result of the recession. He said: “People are biting our hands off for the work at the moment, including the contractors. It is the best time to build. The cheapest time for maybe 20 to 30 years.”

The new campus, which is due to be completed in time for the start of the academic year in September, is the first stage of a three-part development plan for the RSAMD. After the dance and production site opens, the school plans to reconfigure parts of its main campus and then build more dance and teaching spaces in the new facility.

Wallace said that the school is looking to raise a further £6 million for the next two stages of the development programme and that it is approaching charitable trusts and private benefactors for the funds. He added that he hopes all three parts of the development will be completed by 2013/14.

A BA in Modern Ballet was launched by the RSAMD in partnership with Scottish Ballet in September last year and the school also runs both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in musical theatre. These courses will all use the new building and Wallace said he hopes that the academy will offer more dance courses in future.

The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama has had its current title since 1968, after drama courses were added to the school’s musical training.